Legislator Rises to Lead House GOP

by John Laideler, Boston Globe correspondent
Reprinted from the December 29, 2002 Boston Globe

Bradley H. Jones Jr., AA '87, ALB '87, with Governer Mitt Romney

He leads a brigade with few troops, but Bradley H. Jones, Jr., [AA '87, ALB '88] of North Reading, Massachusetts, believes that he and his fellow Republicans can be a force in the Massachusetts House.

"I think we work harder because we know we are the minority," said Jones, 37, who became House minority leader last month. "The fact that we got here says we are willing to work hard," he said, referring to the challenge for a Republican to win a legislative seat in Massachusetts. As House Republican leader, Jones will lead a contingent that is outnumbered 8-to-1 by Democrats. But he will have the advantage of being in the same party as the governor.

Jones became minority leader on November 21 in a unanimous vote of the House GOP caucus. He succeeded Francis L. Marini, who resigned his legislative seat November 19 to accept a judicial appointment.

Jones was elected to hold the leadership post until the end of the year, but is widely expected to be chosen by Republicans on Wednesday to a full two-year term in the position. [Editor's note: Jones has since been elected to that two-year term position.]

His elevation to House GOP leader caps what has been a notably quick rise through the Republican ranks for the former North Reading selectman, who entered the House in 1994. The minority whip from 1999 to 2000, Jones was assistant leader from 2001 until becoming the leader last month.

His rapid ascent was helped by the fact that his party has so few members. Currently, the 160-member House includes 21 Republicans (with Marini's seat vacant). In January, when the new Legislature is sworn in, there will be 23.

One of Jones's GOP colleagues in the House, Robert S. Hargraves of Groton, said Jones has shown leadership ability.

"I've seen him grow from a fledgling representative to a representative that has those qualities of leadership--there's no Webster's definition of it, but he has those qualities," Hargraves said.

"Brad works well with everyone," Hargraves said. "He's not an ideologue, that I see. He gets along with people. He knows how to compromise."

Compromise is a fact of life for Republicans in the Massachusetts House. Because of their small numbers, the Republicans have no chance to land committee chairmanships or other leadership posts, and have a limited ability to shape the legislative agenda. They are seldom listed as chief sponsors of major legislation, even when they initiate it or are actively involved.

Republicans can also be particularly inconvenienced by a lack of information about House business, Jones said. He said there have been times when House leaders have, for example, said a session would begin at 10:30 am, only to start it an hour later.

Still, Jones said Republicans can wield influence as an "incubator of ideas." For example, he said it was Republicans who first proposed in 1999 an income tax rollback that would be tied to economic indicators. He said the House adopted that approach, but the Senate rejected it. Later, after voters adopted a straight tax rollback, the Legislature incorporated the use of economic indicators when it delayed the rollback this year.

Jones said there is also "an obligation being the opposition party, to point out the excesses, both philosophically and procedurally, of the majority." With Republican Mitt Romney set to become governor, House Republicans will have a role in shaping and carrying out his legislative agenda, Jones said.

A governor "probably has less of an ability to hear the average person's comments on any given issue" than lawmakers, Jones said. As such, Republican representatives can help keep Romney in touch with how legislative ideas might be received in communities, he said.

But Jones, whose campaigning for Romney this fall included serving as emcee at rallies in Reading and Lynnfield, cautioned that the governor and GOP House members are not likely to be in sync on all issues.

"If the past is any indication, I'm sure somewhere along the line during the governor's tenure, there will be some issue or legislative idea he proposes that at least some members of the Republican caucus" will not favor, he said. Jones said that because Romney is still forming his policies, it is premature to list likely areas of agreement or disagreement.

A 1983 graduate of North Reading High School, Jones considered a military career. But after brief stints at West Point and The Johns Hopkins University, which he attended on an ROTC scholarship, he opted against it. He received an associate's degree (AA) in 1987 and a bachelor's degree (ALB) in 1988 from the Harvard Extension School.

A district aide to state Representative Richard R. Tisei of Wakefield from 1989–90, Jones managed the successful campaign of Reading Republican Rob Krekorian to succeed Tisei in 1990, the year the latter was elected to the state Senate. From 1991–93, Jones worked as a legislative aide to Krekorian.

In 1993, Jones was elected to the first of two three-year terms as a North Reading selectman. In March 1994, after Krekorian resigned from his seat, Jones won a special election to succeed him. He was elected to the seat again that fall, and has been reelected four times. Jones and his wife, Linda, have a 10-month-old daughter, Alexis.

North Reading Selectman Joseph Veno, who served with him on the board, said he is not surprised to see Jones's emergence as House GOP leader. "He was an extremely hard worker" as selectman, said Veno, who also praised Jones for his honesty and fairness.

Jones said his political philosophy, which "runs the gamut from moderate to conservative," largely reflects that of other Massachusetts Republicans, and noted that "both parties tend to be more to the left" here than in some other parts of the country.

"I consider myself prochoice" on abortion, Jones said, "but I don't consider myself extreme prochoice." He said he supports the death penalty, and on gun control, he calls himself a "supporter of the Second Amendment." While he does not support gay marriage, Jones said he would be "willing to look at certain domestic partnership benefit issues."

Jones opposed the tax increase package passed by lawmakers this year, but has never signed a no-new-taxes pledge.

"I'm very excited about it," Jones said of his new role. Having held various leadership roles in his eight years as a legislator "is nice professionally and good in being able to hopefully benefit your district and potentially impact public policy," he said. "But it also is a way of trying to keep a job interesting."

This article originally appeared in the December 29, 2002 Boston Globe. Reprinted with permission. © Copyright Globe Newspaper Company.